Posts from the “cynical? what me?” Category

Since Jeremy Corbyn threw his hat into the ring I’ve seen a number of people claiming with no sense of irony at all that ‘as feminists‘ they’re proud to be supporting him in his campaign to be the next leader of the Labour Party. Personally I haven’t decided who I’m voting for yet: as a socialist I may well end up voting for Corbyn myself, but I’m certainly under no illusion that that would be the feminist thing to do. It’s not often I find myself agreeing with a Telegraph journalist, let alone former Labour Party official and ultra Blairite Dan Hodges, but much like a stopped clock it seems even Hodges manages to get it right sometimes. A few weeks ago for example I watched…

Okay, so I’ve had over a week now to collect my thoughts following the disastrous decision by delegates at UNISON Conference to reject a statement in support of believing women who report violence perpetrated against them, so if you’re not into the minutiae of trade union motions and amendments you’d best look away now. For those who’ve been following recent events on the left, the amendment (8.1) to motion 8 at this year’s National Delegate Conference (NDC) was pretty much a rehash of the statement MarshaJane and I came up with after UNISON Women’s Conference, and which hundreds of trade unionists, including many from UNISON, have already signed up to. You can read the original statement here – Our Movement Must be a Safe Space for…

There’s been some discussion online about last Saturday’s debate at UNISON’s National Women’s Conference on Motion 30: Support Rape Victims not Rape Deniers, so as the original mover of the motion at #unwc13 I thought perhaps it might be time for me to give my take on it all. * * * Personal Background First though, some personal background. The Socialist Workers Party was the first political party I ever got involved with. It was back in the early 80’s when I was 13/14 years old and just starting to get interested in politics. I’d written off to the Anti-Nazi League, whose address I’d found printed on the inside sleeve of the latest Tom Robinson Band album, and someone from the ANL who lived…

Okay, so my daughter’s wedding is all done and dusted and went off without a hitch on Saturday – even the weather stayed nice! All of which means I can hopefully now clear some space in my head for thinking about other things like writing and campaigning and marching and protesting….. * * * Which reminds me. There are only five days to go until the March for a Future that Works, or #Oct20 as it’s otherwise known. Look, even the giant ugly countdown clock thingy in the sidebar has finally managed to get its numbers right. * * * I’m not going to repeat everything I said in my Guardian piece last year about the importance of marching against…

Because so many people who should know better have been getting it so so wrong over the past few weeks, and because like many feminists I’ve just about reached my limit as to how much more victim blaming and ignorance I can tolerate before I completely explode, here’s a handy cut out and keep guide to some of the things that rape categorically isn’t. * * * Rape is not any of the following: * * * Surprise sex or sex by surprise In December 2010 Julian Assange’s lawyer, Mark Stephens, informed AOL that contrary to what people had heard, Assange was not wanted in Sweden for questioning about allegations of rape, but for something he termed ‘sex by surprise.’…

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"Those of us who love reading and writing believe that being a writer is a sacred trust. It means telling the truth. It means being incorruptible. It means not being afraid, and never lying."
Andrea Dworkin

"Sex-negative feminism consists of, what, Andrea Dworkin and that weird Cath Elliott woman at the Guardian?"
Someone on the Internet